LEAF 500 Organizational Leadership and Self Development
Faculty: John Frederick
Date: August 14, 2013
Books: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People:Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, S. Covey (1990)
Leadership Theory and Practice, P.G Northouse (2013)
Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within, R.E. Quinn (1996)
Summary: LEAF 500 sets its goal “to develop a deeper understanding of, and practice in, the study and art of leadership at the personal, organizational and community/system levels”(LEAF 500 syllabus, Frederick).
During the course we discussed multiple leadership theories including personality theory; transactional and transformational leadership, contingency and trait approach theories, as well as servant leadership. We also studied social, personal and organizational change models.
We were introduced to the power of reflection, by creating leadership logs and each class started with “switch”, a chance to move forward from the day and look with a fresh perspective. This introductory course integrated research, self-assessment and the study of leadership to help explore the relationship between personality and behaviors of leaders. We learned about the historical development of leadership theory and examined leadership models identifying both strengths and weaknesses with each one.
So what, Now what: Zaccaro (2007) suggests, “Understanding leadership requires a focus not only on multiple personal attributes but also on how these attributes work together to influence performance.” As I reflect on the importance of characteristics, personalities, and working together I am reminded of the importance of our cohort. Leaf 500 has been one of my favorite classes because we began to identify our own traits and styles while forming relationships with each other and building the foundation of our cohort.
9-4-13 Roses from Mickey as I start my first class of ELC